My wife has a Ruger P89 and I have a Springfield XD Sub Compact. Both are 9mm and we can shoot at home for cheap $. We're both ex-cops and know larger calibers may be more preferred for CCW, but we wanted to start with an economical caliber. I know there are +P and +P+ rounds and heavier rounds than the 115's we currently shoot. I have read that hotter and heavier rounds can make the 9mm closer to the .40 or even the .45. Any input and advice you can share would be greatly appreciated.

I too have pretty much standardized on Speer GDHP in multiple calibers including 9mm (124 gr +P) and .45 ACP (230 gr). It fires reliably and accurately in my guns and testing such as doumented at Brassfetcher usually shows good results.

Expect to pay about $25 or so for 50 rounds of 9mm and $30 for .45 ACP for Factory loaded. Considerably less if you buy from some place like Georgia Arms.

Personally I fire at least 200 rounds of a flavor to confirm it functions in my gun(s) before I'll carry it.

All that said, with todays advancement in bullet smithing, any if the lighter faster loads, from any major manufacturer should do you OK. So get the load that your gun likes the best. My Glocks prefer the 124 load, but do OK with the 115. My Taurus PT 92 just loves 115's. But the groups double or triple in size with anything heavier.

I like to reload Hornady 125 HP's, HAP"s I believe with 4.5 gr of universal, various brass and Federal SP primers.
Good speed with a good bullet. Has been very accurate for me but I have not performed any testing for expandtion or penetration.

My home defense P89 is loaded with Remington Golden Saber 147gr JHP's. They are a slower velocity but the energy is close to that of the 127gr HP's. I did find that the Federal Hydra-Shok is a bit mroe accurate out at 25yds, but for solelly defensive use, the 147gr GS is just as accurate at 7-10 yds.

I do shoot a lot of 115gr FMJ and the P89 has never had a hiccup of any sort. It's totally reliable with FMJ or JHP bullets. I haven't shot +P stuff with it but Im sure it will handle that too.

For defensive use in whatever bullet weight and type you choose, your pistol (and hers) has to go bang every time. I agree that you need to fire a minimum number of rounds of each weight and brand to see what is the most consistent in terms of accuracy and what is fail-safe. 200 rounds is fine but 300 might be better.

i've seen these in a few articles and personally would not wanna be shot by them...
I tried some of theseand they did pretty well as far as feeding and not jamming on me.
those would be the very light end but heavy scatter upon impact style.
I also have done the standard 124 JHP which is really close to target loads so comfortable shooting and i know where they are gonna be out to 25 paces.
right now I have some custom loaded rounds that are "star cut" hps.

George makes an important point about reliability. The best expanding 9mm ammo is worthless if it will not feed reliably in your weapon. Test it extensively since your life may depend upon it.

Now why would I, a diehard revolver guy, start commenting on semi-auto pistols? Recently, I began to reevaluate my self-defense needs in light of my forthcoming move. After some serious forethought, I have decided to buy a good 9mm pistol for home defense and possible concealed carry. Discussions of 9mm pistols and their ammo has taken on a new importance in light of this. So, do not be surprised if I chime in with some recommendations of my own in the future.

A lot of debate on this one but the truth is any modern jacketed hollow point is good. I tend to carry the Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +p, it has shown good results in shootings by NYPD and they have more officer involved shootings than about anyone. The key of course is bullet placement. Nothing works well if not on center mass.

As with all my potentially defensive handguns, I choose 4 or 5 of the most popular (read most effective) self defense loads and then load them up with whatever I shoot best in THAT gun. Different guns, carry different loads and I keep meticulous records of all testing.

Not only do they expand reliably and with geometric precision in soft materials like flesh, they also penetrate auto sheetmetal and glass very nicely at just about any angle.
The hollow nose and hard jacket act to catch the surface of the metal like the edge of a tube cutter preventing richochets.

I don't think you can buy them over the counter any more, if they even make them these days. The company chose to sell these only to LEO long ago.

In general I'd look for the hard to find W-W Ranger T series 127gr +P+ 9mm JHP. This is considered the top round for duty/protection use in 9mmNATO.
Other good selections would be the Remington Golden Saber bonded 124gr JHP +P, the Speer Gold Dot +P JHP 124gr(the load of the NYPD) or maybe the Glaser silver/Magsafe 9mm rounds for CC use/home protection.
You may want to look into CorBon's PowRBall and/or Federal's EFMJ 9mmNATO loads for your spare mags/carry reloads. I would use those loads rather than standard FMJ rounds. I would carry the PowRball or EFMJ rounds because they offer great feeding and a deeper punch than some 9mmNATO JHP rounds. You want to make sue your pistol(s) fire without jams or problems when you must use spare mags and more than likely an armed felon shooting at you will have cover and the extra depth offered by these designs may take them out faster than a JHP that breaks apart.
Bullet designs have improved greatly over the last 15-20 years but if you use small compact 9mmNATO pistols many JHPs may not work exactly as described by the ammo factories.
Rusty S

Although The High Road has attempted to provide accurate information on the forum, The High Road assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information. All information is provided "as is" with all faults without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. Neither The High Road nor any of its directors, members, managers, employees, agents, vendors, or suppliers will be liable for any direct, indirect, general, bodily injury, compensatory, special, punitive, consequential, or incidental damages including, without limitation, lost profits or revenues, costs of replacement goods, loss or damage to data arising out of the use or inability to use this forum or any services associated with this forum, or damages from the use of or reliance on the information present on this forum, even if you have been advised of the possibility of such damages.